Anyone heading to NAMM this year should make a point to swing by the Earthquaker Devices booth to see what the perennial Delicious Audio favorites have ramped up special for the show. With EIGHT new pedals on the docket, they effectively have a whole new line rolling out.
Among the new offerings, one that has my interest the piqued the most is a stackable dual fuzz pedal called the Spire Fuzz Doubler which emulates a combination of a vintage Rosac Nu Fuzz and the now out-of-production Dream Crusher. Either one of these Fuzz boxes alone from Earthquaker would be a win, but in a space saving combo it sounds like this unit could strip the paint off a radiator.
Another highlight includes an easy to use dynamic one knob tremolo called the Night Wire, which incorporates some interesting mode switches for manual, LFO, or Attack that allow for customized tremolo rate settings. The manual and LFO settings go by knob positions, while the attack mode actually takes its cues directly from picking intensity.
In the distortion and fuzz departments, there is a new double stack overdrive called the Dynamic Dirt Doubler (it’s too tempting to call this the Dynamic Dirk Diggler), a stripped down back to basics fuzz box called the Fuzzdriver, a new (self-explanatory) Germanium Preamp Boost called the Bows, and the Acalpulco Gold Distortion which is being moved from limited release to permanent fixture. I know one thing is for sure, if that Dynamic Dirt Doubler is anything like the Palisades double overdrive, it’s worth its weight in gold.
Finally, if anyone still has Fare Thee Well fever after this summer’s Grateful Dead revival, the Earthquaker Spatial Delivery looks like a killer envelope filter to emulate those late 70s funk tones. This one offers some unique functions like adding a sub-octave and a control to set the reaction time to the pick attack.
Overall, there looks to be something new for just about any style of player. These pedals should roll out to the general public on a staggered schedule between March and July. – Ryan Dembinski
